


Ask Me for My Aid

by EdeatheDemonFox



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Blood and Injury, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, My First Work in This Fandom, Promises, Revelation Route, Worry, angst with fluff, bit of corrin/xander in the beginning, blushing and hand holding, flying on a pegasus, happy belated birthday xander, hinoka/xander, possibly a little OOC, stubborn hinoka, worried xander
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2016-11-04
Packaged: 2018-08-28 22:53:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8466061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdeatheDemonFox/pseuds/EdeatheDemonFox
Summary: “Promise me you won’t ever scare me like that again,” he murmured solemnly. “You know I can’t make a promise like that.”Or:Hinoka's injured in battle and Xander worries for her.





	

Enemies flanked Xander on both his right and left sides but he took them out with practiced ease. Even having grown used to taking down soldiers that dared oppose him, it still wasn’t as completely easy as the crown prince of Nohr made it seem. Mentally, anyway. So the fact that these were Vallite soldiers, ghostly figures not capable of human emotion, made it a little bit easier.

He kept tabs on all the Hoshidan Nohrian forces from the corner of his eye; Sakura and Elise were drawn back from the fray, as much so as possible, in order to heal any of their army that required immediate attention. Oboro was facing off against a Dark Mage, Nyx by her side and obviously by Nyx's side, hovering protectively behind whilst facing off against his own enemy was Leo, seeing as she was his fiancée. 

Corrin was at the head of everything, much like usual, in her dragon form, facing off against a Vallite with a spear. The spear, however had no effect on her tough hide and just bounced clean off. Good. She was safe, for the moment, which was a load off his mind. 

Xander took down another Vallite, this time a Berserker, his eyes straying from his little princess for only a moment. Then the gleam of a dangerous weapon flashed nearby and he felt his blood run cold. A Wrymslayer. The soldier heading straight for Corrin. 

Bless the Gods Subaki had been circling above on his Pegasus, able to fly down in a flash and protect their leader with his naginata.

Speaking of naginata that brought a good question to the forefront of Xander’s mind. Where was Hinoka? He looked up but only caught sight of Camilla atop Marzia slinging down her own portion of enemies with her handy axe, and Beruka astride her own wyvern backing his sister up. There was no sign of another white, feathered equine sailing the skies. 

Wait. Hold that thought. Hinoka’s Pegasus, instead of flying in the sky, had taken to galloping on the ground, reins flapping wildly on either side of his neck, coat slick with sweat and eyes wild and frantic. Practically frothing at the mouth. 

“Gods!” Xander exclaimed, urging his own steed to the Pegasus’s side. 

It shied away from him at first but through a steady, comforting hand, he managed to calm the terrified creature with a few simple strokes. It probably helped that due to his fiancée, he had come to spend so much time with the Pegasus, the redhead even allowing him to ride her steed in a strangely joyous journey of flight as means of a thank you for the dinner party he had put together for her.

“Easy, boy, easy now. There we go,” he murmured. “Where’s Hinoka? She’s not hurt, is she?” 

That’s when the creature’s eyes rolled back into its head, arching up into a half rear, nearly wrenching the Paladin’s arm out of its socket. That wasn’t a good sign, for the feathered steed to react like that to his words. Something was definitely wrong here. And just like moments before when he had almost seen his precious sister attacked by a blade designed to pierce dragon skin, his blood ran cold, like ice through his veins.

Another enemy attacked then, almost getting the upper hand on him by coming at his distracted mind from behind and he barely managed to block the blow this time. 

“Damn it all, I don’t have time for this!” 

It was an easy decision, really. Their army was full of more than capable fighters and already half of the Vallite army they were currently up against had been defeated, obliterated from existence. He dismounted his own horse and swung a leg up onto the Pegasus, continuing to calm the nervous creature with soothing fingers stroking its neck. 

He was still slightly nervous about flying, especially now seeing as he didn’t have the Falcon Knight with him this time, but if it was the only way, then so be it. 

“Take me to her,” he murmured into the Pegasus’s ear. 

A slight, gentle rap on the creature’s sides with his feet and they were off and into the air, the Pegasus with natural ease and grace even through the midst of its fear and exhaustion, and Xander lurching forward as he was not so used to riding a horse while in mid air. Now that he was by himself on the flying creature, he realized the full extent of just how different it was to ride a horse on the ground. 

Flapping its wings with slightly clumsy urgency, the Pegasus took him straight to his rider, just as Xander had ordered, coming to land on bloodied soil just as Hinoka took out a Vallite Archer with her naginata.

The Gods only knew what an enemy hidden this far away under the cover of dense foliage could have done to Subaki or his sister and Beruka, or even the Falcon Knight herself had she and her Pegasus been back with all the others on the battlefield. 

She collapsed to one knee, obviously injured, letting out a grunt of restrained pain just as Xander threw himself off the Pegasus’s back, striding quickly to her side. He saw the blood staining the ground just below her and now realized where the blood on the creature’s hooves had come from.

Her knee was scraped raw, nearly to the bone, blood covering every visible part of her leg and some even staining the white of her dress a pinkish-red. 

“What happened?” he breathed, never having expected to see the redhead with such a grievous wound. 

Another grunt escaped her lips, her breathing becoming ragged as Xander forced her injured knee up off the ground, laying it flat out in front of him. 

“I got a little too close to a Berserker and he nailed me with his axe,” she hissed, obviously disappointed at having been bested by someone she deemed to be of a lower caliber than herself.

If she weren’t so seriously injured right now, Xander would have smirked at his fiancée’s inability to take a hit to her pride with grace. Classic Hinoka.  
Obviously she had taken down the Berserker because there was no sign of them now, and still Hinoka looked upset. 

“Come on, now. Let’s get that knee of yours bandaged up.”

Xander ripped off a portion of his cape, ignoring her loud protests as he tied it tightly around the wound, acting as not only a bandage but a tourniquet as well. 

“Hey! You didn’t need to do that. Now you’ve ruined a perfectly good piece of material.”

He smiled faintly at her, helping her to her feet. 

“You sound just like Camilla. And you should know as well as I that she has a talent for needlework. She can help me patch it up back at camp.”

Maybe it was just due to some blood loss, but after his comment, Hinoka blushed, looking away from him with pouting lips. 

“Camilla’s taught me a thing or two about sewing. I can help you patch it up…if you want.” 

Xander’s smile turned soft as he gazed at her affectionately. 

“I would love that,” he said softly. 

He helped her limp to her Pegasus, the creature snorting softly in greeting, glad to see his rider was okay. Hinoka being Hinoka, of course, could only stand so much help even in a weakened state. Xander knew this and so dutifully stood back and watched as she used her good leg to heft herself onto the creature’s back. Then, striding forward, he took the young woman’s hand in his own. 

“Hinoka.”

She fiddled with her scarf absentmindedly, red-brown eyes meeting his auburn ones wordlessly. Xander’s fingers curled around hers and slowly, she wove their fingers together, blushing a deep rouge all the while. 

“Xander,” was the best reply she could come up with.

The crown prince of Nohr knew it wasn’t a realistic plea, yet he still asked anyway.

“Promise me you won’t ever scare me like that again,” he murmured solemnly. 

“You know I can’t make a promise like that.”

Fingers squeezed one another even tighter and with a sigh, Xander pulled himself up on the Pegasus’s back behind her, gathering her protectively into his arms.

“That is understandable, though I am loathe to admit. We are at war, after all.”

“I can’t promise you I’ll be more careful either. It’s just in my nature,” she interrupted, her grip on the reins compromised by her now shaking hands. 

Having spent quite a bit of her childhood in emotional distress due to Corrin’s kidnapping and then learning how to fight at such a young age – also because of her sister’s kidnapping – Hinoka had learned to avoid any emotional confrontation like it was the plague, therefore she had no idea of what to do in a situation like this. What the right thing to say was. She should be comforting him, not…causing him to worry even more.

“I’m sorry. Maybe I’m not the best person for you to be with,” she said, voice oddly shaky.

His arms still around her, Xander shook his head, blond curls and hot breath tickling the nape of her neck. It didn’t matter if she threw herself into danger’s path far more often than necessary, or even when it wasn’t needed. She was the woman he had sworn his heart and devotion to. 

“Don’t say that. All I’m asking is that next time, before going off on your own, you tell me. If you need help, do not be afraid to ask me for my aid. I will gladly give it to you, day or night, rain or shine.”

She snorted softly, “Quite the poet today, aren’t you?” 

“Only for you, my love.” 

There was a brief pause before Xander felt more than heard the woman chuckle, the vibration causing her chest to rumble underneath his gentle, protective touch. 

“Well…shall we head back then?” she asked, turning to look at him with a close-lipped smile, one that still made her look radiant nonetheless. 

“We shall,” he answered with a nod and soft smile of his own.

They took the skies once more, for the moment, both of them content. One day the war would be over, and then…well, then they wouldn’t have to worry about the other getting hurt and would be free to love as love was meant to be felt; without worry.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I shouldn't even be writing this right no because of NaNoWriMo but I have a lot of Fates ideas for fanfics floating around in my head and this is one of the ones that refused to leave me be. So here it is. My first ever Fates fanfic. Hinoka and Xander. I hope I didn't butcher their characters too much. I tried to keep Hinoka's stubborness but also made her vulnerable because she was injured. And Xander's firm but more gentle than most realize, so...yeah. 
> 
> Hopefully I didn't screw this up too bad. It's still probably shoddy as crap, but oh well! 
> 
> I'm so possessive of Xander and my Fates OTP is Xander/Corrin so of course, I had to add a little bit of them in the beginning. I'M AWFUL, I know. Anyway, it's just funny that I said my first Fates fic would be a Xander/Corrin fic but it ended up being Xander and someone else. XD I will do plenty of ones with Corrin, but for now...this is what I've come up with.
> 
> I also had a different way of going about this when I first sat down to write it, but it ended up not working out so I scrapped part of it and just kept it simple. Left it a little more up to interpretation. 
> 
> Hope you guys like it!~ And Happy Belated Birthday, big brother, Xander. <33333


End file.
